Project backed by British Film Institute

The project, which is being developed with backing from the British Film Institute’s Film Fund, will mark the first time Rook has produced a film helmed by someone other than Wheatley.

Strickland’s “Berberian Sound Studio” was the big winner at the British Independent Film Awards on Sunday, where it picked up four awards, including best helmer for Strickland. Wheatley’s “Sightseers” nabbed screenplay honors.

“The Duke of Burgundy” is a dark melodrama about an amateur lepidopterist — a person who studies butterflies and moths — whose wayward desires test the limits of her lover’s tolerance. It will star Chiara D’Anna, who featured in “Berberian Sound Studio.” Wheatley’s next film will be English Civil War feature “A Field in England.” He is also developing a cops versus monsters sci-fier titled “Freakshift” and a claymation film, “Mega Evil Motherfuckers!”